ar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Wednesday, February 8, 2023.
‘Makachu’ sport in Zanzibar: The good, the bad and the ugly
It is a sport whose popularity is increasingly growing both in Tanzania and beyond the borders of the East African nation, catching the attention of the world’s most celebrated superstars as iconic as the Oscar award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o.
Traditionally done for leisure and fun, the sport has now become one of the most coveted marketing strategies, used by both corporate brands as well as several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to promote events, slogans or products.
It is none other than ‘Makachu,’ a sport that involves jumping off the seawall at Forodhani Gardens into the ocean, with varied styles, commonly done by boys under twenties, that has increasingly become sensational recently.
Nobody knows who named the sport ‘Makachu,’ or when exactly did people start to use the word to describe the sport, but legends say it is as old as Zanzibar itself.
Mohammed Hamad Ali is a 57-year-old resident of Stone Town, a UNESCO-inscribed World Heritage site, who remembers how in his youthful years he and his fellow youngsters swarmed Forodhani Gardens to excite revellers with the sport.
“And we did not even start it,” Ali says during an interview. “It used to be one of the leisures that were hard to resist, when you start it, it becomes very difficult to stop. There is something very addictive about it if I can say.”
Full story here.
NSSF boss speaks out about Dege Eco Village
The Director General of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Masha Mshomba said on Wednesday that the fund is yet to get a buyer for its Dege Eco Village project in Kigamboni.
Mr Mshamba made the revelation in the capital Dodoma while speaking to journalists, almost two months since NSSF revealed the plans to sell the controversial project.
“We haven’t obtained the buyer for the project,” Mr Mshamba told journalists. “And if we fail to get a buyer who will pay the cost that we have incurred for the project it means that we will re-announce the tender.”
NSSF announced on October 21, 2022, that it was disposing of the project, estimated to be worth $653 million (about Sh1.3 trillion), and prospective buyers had until November 14, 2022, to express their interests.
In its announcement, NSSF said the winner would be announced on the same date – November 14 – during a meeting it’d convene with all tenderers at the 7th floor of the Benjamin William Mkapa Pension Towers (Tower B) in the city centre.
But before Wednesday, Tanzanians were in the dark, not knowing whether the buyer had been obtained or not.
During his briefing with reporters on Wednesday, Mshomba said NSSF would be willing to dispose of the project if it is at least able to recover the costs the fund invested in the project.
“If that won’t happen, then [NSSF] will report to higher authorities [within the government] to find a possible way forward,” he said.
Full story here.
Tanzania’s under-five mortality rate cut to 43 per 1,000 live births in 2022
Minister of Health Ummy Mwalimu said on Tuesday that Tanzania’s under-five mortality rate has been reduced to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022, down from 67 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2016.
Mwalimu announced the new figures when she launched results on child health and malaria indicators for 2022 in the capital city Dodoma.
“This is a major health breakthrough for the government,” Mwalimu said.
She said the East African nation’s third national development plan aims to reduce the under-five mortality rate to 40 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2025.
“This target will be realized taking into account efforts being taken by the government to improve the health sector and the agriculture sector that contributes immensely to food security,” said Mwalimu.
The minister said Tanzania is projected to realize the reduction of the under-five mortality rate of 25 deaths out of 1,000 live births by 2030 as entailed by the UN’s sustainable development goals.
This is it for today and we hope you enjoyed our briefing. Please consider subscribing to our newsletter (see below) or following us on Twitter (here) or joining us on Telegram (here). And in case you have any questions or comments, please consider dropping a word to our editors at editor@thechanzo.com.
One Response
“disposing of the project, estimated to be worth $653 million (about Sh1.3 trillion)”
Workers’ trillions gone down the drain with 20% or so commission pocketed by few bosses
Who is responsible? Who is accountable? Mama SSH are you there?